How Educators Can Help Close Achievement Gaps

Programs, Products, and Resources

NEA Resources

NEA offers a wide range of programs, products, and resources to engage and support state affiliates and members in closing the achievement gaps. The question most often heard when educators confront the reality of the achievement gaps in their school is "What can I do in my classroom?" NEA resources provide support for answering this question by:

Offering research-based suggestions for what educators can do now to create a learning environment in which diverse students can learn;

Providing training and resources that challenge educators to meet accountability demands while still offering quality instruction to those students who need the most help;

Developing training and materials to help educators meet the needs of English language learners; and

Providing connections to additional resources that spark even more ideas for how to be successful with all students.

The following resources are available to educators from NEA and its organizational partners.

NEA Guides, Programs, and Videos

2011 C.A.R.E.: Strategies for Closing the Achievement GapsThe 2011 edition of the C.A.R.E. Guide contains student activities, educator reflection opportunities, and video clips of experts sharing research and practice tips for educating culturally diverse students and students from low-income families.

"I Can Do It!"This training program from the NEA Academy is designed for new K-12 teachers in their first five years of teaching. Included in the curriculum is information about the elements necessary for successful classroom management.

Teaching for Understanding: A Guide to Video Resources (2006) (PDF, 916KB, 42pp)Authors Judith W. Segal, Elizabeth J. Demarest, and Andrea I. Prejean describe recent videos portraying teaching practices that are consistent with the most recent research on learning and teaching and with professional standards, and how they are used in professional development.

Special Education ResourcesNEA is deeply committed to the notion that all students should have access to a free, appropriate public education that promotes student achievement. When parents, teachers, administrators and related service providers work and plan together, focused on matching the educational environment and appropriate supports with the learning needs of students with disabilities and those without, the specialization process yields programs and services that maximize the success of every child.

Classroom Management: Looking into Learning-Centered Classrooms (2006) (PDF, 452KB, 28pp)Recent research is revealing a great deal about how changes in educational practices and policies can revamp classrooms and schools to close the achievement gaps and promote excellence in learning for all students. This NEA report, by Carolyn M. Evertson and Kristen W. Neal, describes what research says about managing learning-centered classrooms to foster student engagement, autonomy, community and responsibility.

Characteristics of Teachers Who Are Effective in Teaching All Students to Read (2002) (PDF, 580KB, 15pp)Research from the 1970s and1980s on the characteristics of effective elementary school teachers highlighted the importance of a strong academic focus, explicit instruction,and high levels of pupils on task (Hoffman, 1991). Extending this earlier research, recent largescale studies on effective teachers of reading have highlighted the importance of motivating and balanced instruction, the teaching of strategies as well as skills, the encouragement of higher-level thinking, and the use of coaching as children are reading and writing.

Steps for School-Wide Reading Improvement (2003) (PDF, 910KB, 20pp)The question of what makes schools successful in improving students’ reading achivement has been a key area of inquiry at the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA). The process for school-wide reading improvement described in this booklet is based on the framework for change used in the CIERA School Change Project.

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